Product Description

An All-Star lineup of former major leaguers remembers what baseball was like in the 1950s and 1960s. Whitey Ford, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Bill Rigney, and Ralph Branca tell stories about baseball in New York when the Yankees dominated and seemed to play either the Dodgers or the Giants in every World Series. By the end of the fifties, the two National League teams had relocated to California, as baseball expanded across the country. Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, Braves mainstay Lew Burdette, home-run king Harmon Killebrew, Cubs slugger Billy Williams, and Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson share great stories about milestone events, from Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier on the field to Frank Robinson doing the same in the dugout. They remember the teammates and opponents they admired, including Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Don Newcombe, and Ernie Banks.

For anyone who grew up watching baseball in the 1950s and 1960s, or for anyone who wonders what it was like in the days when ballplayers negotiated their own contracts and worked real jobs in the off-season, this is a book to cherish.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118341 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416553434
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Vincent's second volume of interviews with ballplayers hearkens to a time when kids played baseball all day (with only a break for lunch), annual salaries for professional players rarely reached six figures and the color barrier was only recently broken by Jackie Robinson. Robinson's legacy looms large in the 11 accounts featured here; in one of the book's more touching passages, late New York Giants shortstop Bill Rigney laments failing to introduce himself after the Brooklyn Dodger slugged his first big-league home run against the Giants in 1947. Elsewhere, Duke Snider recalls playing in the final game at Ebbets Field before the Dodgers moved west, and Carl Erskine reveals that players back then didn't bother to read their contracts. Author and former baseball commissioner Vincent records verbatim his subjects' comments, preserving each player's characteristic mannerisms but encouraging digression; that said, everybody questioned has remarkably detailed memories and plenty of opinions on today's game. This is a vivid, entertaining read for anyone old enough to remember Whitey Ford, Lew Burdette and Billy Williams, and an informative insider's history for a new generation of fans.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
This engaging collection of 11 interviews with some of baseball’s best players from the 1950s and 1960s, whose salaries were often less than $10,000, might have been better subtitled, “And, Come to Think of It, We Did” (play for nothing, that is). But those guys could play. Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent just starts the tape and lets them talk. There’s Ralph Branca, alternately bitter and philosophical about the Shot Heard ’Round the World that Bobby Thompson hit off him in 1951; Harmon Killebrew downplaying the monster homers he hit off everybody; Whitey Ford (236–106 lifetime) sharing great Yankee stories; and Brooks Robinson marveling more at his great peers than at his own illustrious career. Other interviewees include Bill Rigney, Duke Snider, Robin Roberts, Carl Erskine, Lew Burdette, Frank Robinson, and Billy Williams. This loving, valuable addition to baseball historiography is a sequel to Vincent’s earlier The Only Game in Town (2006), which compiled interviews with stars of the 1930s and 1940s. --Alan Moores

Review
"Engaging...[a] loving, valuable addition to baseball historiography."-- Booklist

Customer Reviews

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "A MUST READ FOR "OLD-SCHOOL" BASEBALL PURISTS!"
This is a marvelously "put-together" baseball book containing the inner thoughts, dreams and actual accomplishments of eleven former Major League players from the (19)50's and 60's. The reason I say "put-together" rather than written is because this book was created by transcribing videotaped interviews into a manuscript. The author "tried to faithfully record the comments of the interviewees, correcting minor grammatical mistakes and occasional errors caused by the inevitable lapses of memory after several decades." The end result is a "STUNNING" recreation of when "BASEBALL WAS STILL A GAME!" Due to the fact that actual interviews have been transcribed, the reader benefits from this unique protocol and feels as if each player is sharing his personal stories directly with you.

The eleven players highlighted in this book include Hall Of Famers Duke Snider, Robin Roberts, Whitey Ford, Harmon Killebrew, Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Billy Williams, 1957 World Series MVP Lou Burdette, two time World Champion and thrower of two no-hitters, Carl Erskine, twenty game winner and an eternal historical figure for throwing the pitch that resulted in "The Shot Heard Round The World", Ralph Branca, and "baseball lifer" Bill Rigney. Every one of these elite storytellers takes you back to where their dreams began and how honored they were to achieve their boyhood goals of playing in the Big Leagues. It's hard not to notice the modesty and unpretentious attitudes that these humble stars reveal, which is in sharp contrast to the attitudes and behavior of today's players.

There are so many "delicious" intimate details shared with the reader from the clubhouse and the playing field from the glorious years gone by, when baseball truly was "THE NATIONAL PASTIME". It is apparent to the reader that these "yesterday's hero's" are reliving the same joy, sadness, competitiveness, and aching of their days gone by as emotionally as the reader, who is reliving their cherished childhood moments through their hero's. It's refreshing as almost every star points out with dignity teachers, coaches or parents who made a difference in their life even over half a century later. It is also invigorating to see the same fierce blood start to boil as old rivalries or "bad" calls are rehashed. I found one exceptionally telling historical subject that was discussed reverently by ten of the eleven players, and that was Jackie Robinson. The enormous respect that Jackie "EARNED" from all these players on and off the field had not diminished one iota! In fact to me the most powerful emotionally piercing moment in this book, was not about any of the monumental accomplishments of these players, but of the sad regret of one:

BILL RIGNEY SAID: "I thought one of the worst things I did or one of the things I didn't do--and I regretted it all my life--is that opening day in the Polo Grounds on the eighteenth of April in '47 when Jackie Robinson hit his first home run. I didn't walk over to him and say, "Hey, I'm Bill Rigney, I just want to shake your hand and wish you the best of luck because it's not going to be easy for you, but I wish you the best," and leave it at that. And I regretted it all my life that I didn't do it, because I knew I was too late, you know, after I got to know him. You know just reading about it, you knew how tough it was going to be for him. Why I didn't do that, I don't know, because he was standing right there. All I had to do was walk over and say, "I'm Bill Rigney. I'm the shortstop for the Giants; I just want to wish you good luck." Big deal. But I regret that."

The highest praise I can give this book is to compare it to the seminal book written in 1972 "THE BOYS OF SUMMER" by Roger Kahn looking back on the Brooklyn Dodgers of the `50's. This book is a "BOYS OF SUMMER" with eleven players some of whom were Dodgers. I couldn't recommend this book any higher for a true "OLD-SCHOOL" baseball fan!

Great gift for the baseball fan
I bought this book for my father's 80th birthday and he loved it. He said it brought back so many great baseball memories. He's a die hard baseball fan. I would highly recommend it. It brought a smile to his face and great enjoyment.

Personal Stories of Baseball Heroes
Today, with so many players having multi-million dollar contracts, I first looked at this book in the store because of the title. But it turns out to be even more interesting than I thought. It's interviews with a lot of the great players from back in the old days, and it really gives you a sense of what it was like for them personally to be playing the game back in the 50s and 60s. I was especially interested in the three interviews with members of the Brooklyn Dodgers. I grew up hearing a lot about guys like Duke Snider, but to actually read their stories from their point of view gave me a whole new perspective on them. It's not about stats and numbers, but about the personal things that influenced each player's career. Some guys talk about their mothers, others talk about their relationships with their managers, owners or other players. It's the kind of stuff you don't find in history books. I really recommend this book to all baseball fans.